Raspberries: Fruit is rotting prior to harvest

Botrytis, or gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) infects flowers during wet weather and results in moldy berries, even before they ripen. Wet weather during fruit ripening also can lead to moldy fruit. Moldy berries are most common in the interior of the canopy where the environment favors disease development.

Cluster of ripe and ripening raspberry fruit. Among red and white berries, a shrunken, gray berry is present. Gray mold covers the entire surface of the berry; mold appears powdery.

Raspberry cluster with one molded berry. Mold begins at berry tip and extends almost to the base of the cap. The final centimeter of stem before the moldy berry is brown, unlike the green stem that is attached to healthy berries.

More Botrytis (gray mold) information